How to Hack a Hacker (Unholy Trifecta Book 3)

by AJ Sherwood

  “Da,” Eidolon agreed, bouncing a bit on his toes. “But seeing K lose his shit more fun.”

  “I hate you,” K ground out. “Just for that, I’m telling your husband about all of this.”

  “Bah,” Eidolon dismissed airily. “He finds it funny too. But we chat more later, da? Brannigan, you need to leave now. Trouble’s coming. Come, go, go.”

  Brannigan dug in his heels against Eidolon’s pushing, which took some effort as the man was stronger than he looked. “What do you mean, trouble? I have employees here—”

  “Is fine, is fine,” Eidolon soothed, still urging him forward. “Malvagio and Smiley here too. We all protect your people until they can get in cars and go home. But Mob is not happy and are wanting to take bit of revenge on you. We stop them tonight.”

  “I’m not exactly helpless, you know. I can help drive them off.”

  Eidolon looked him over, considering. “I believe that.”

  K made squawking noises of protest.

  “Tonight, can you go anyway?” Eidolon requested sincerely. “For one, K might have heart attack. For another, you do not know how we fight. We do not know how you fight. Dangerous to put an unknown in this situation.”

  Brannigan wanted to protest, but both points were valid. “You sure the three of you can handle it, though? The O’Conner family isn’t a pushover. I think they were just testing the defenses two days ago, judging how much muscle to send in.”

  “Da, I think you’re right. But we’re an assassin, thief, and mercenary. We can handle it. They not send much muscle.”

  “Eidolon,” K sighed, sounding resigned, like he already knew the answer. “Did you break into the Irish Mob’s headquarters?”

  “Am I in trouble if I did?”

  “Yes, you’re fucking in trouble if you did.”

  “Then I didn’t.”

  Brannigan choked back a laugh. He had a feeling he and Eidolon would be friends, if they ever got the chance. He found this man hysterical. But another question rose its head. “But why would the three of you step in like this?”

  “You’re K’s,” an unfamiliar male voice answered. “Of course we will.”

  “That was Smiley, the mercenary,” Eidolon filled him in, still urging him toward the truck. “Now, you keep earbud for tonight. I’ll fetch it from you later.”

  Brannigan wanted to protest, but he sensed there wasn’t enough time. Not if they were going to get his people out of harm’s way. He grudgingly unlocked the truck and got in, but stopped Eidolon one last time. “If it gets to be too much, I have security that will come help, too.”

  Eidolon patted him on the arm, expression gentle. “You’re sweet man. I see why he likes you so much. It’s okay. They only send a dozen or so people. We’ll be fine. Just go before K has kittens.”

  He really didn’t want to. Now that he’d met one of them in person, Brannigan was dying to latch on and finally get some answers. But this wasn’t the time for it. With severe misgivings, he got the engine started and pulled out.

  “Bran, go directly home.” Voice faltering, K pleaded, “Please? My nerves can’t take anymore today.”

  “You really had no idea that they were near me, did you?”

  “I knew they were up to something. I didn’t think it was stalking you, no.”

  “I didn’t think you’d tell them who I was. Or where I was.”

  “I didn’t,” K ground out. He sounded ready to punch every single one of his friends. “They got past my security and did a little digging, figured it all out. For which they are going to PAY DEARLY.”

  There was a snicker, although he wasn’t sure who from. Brannigan didn’t think any of the men were worried about K’s potential wrath. Thinking better of just leaving, he called Gaby.

  “Hey, Mr. Genovese, we’re almost ready to go.”

  “Just leave. I got a hot tip that the Mob will be there any second. Don’t worry about your equipment, I’ll replace it if it’s stolen. Just get in your cars and go now.”

  “Whoa! Yeah, okay. Consider us gone.”

  “Thanks, bye.” Alright, that should help speed things along a little. He drove for a few minutes in silence, in part because he shouldn’t be distracting them when they had trouble incoming, in part because he needed a minute to absorb all of this.

  A hacker. A thief. An assassin. And a mercenary. Eidolon called them ‘family’ but they were clearly not related. Family of choice, then. A criminal family. Was this part of the reason why K was so hesitant to come near him? Because they were all criminals, K included, and he didn’t think his world would blend well with Brannigan’s? For all that Brannigan’s family was legit now, it hadn’t been that way for long. About twentyish years. His father had started the process when his parents were expecting him, in fact. Up until he was ten, they’d been semi-mafia.

  K’s concerns had valid grounds, but still. Brannigan didn’t think his family or friends would react poorly to meeting K. They still had criminal roots, themselves. The high-flying associates he rubbed elbows with wouldn’t think kindly of K, but then, there was no reason to divulge anything with them, either. Brannigan dealt with them on a business-social level, nothing more.

  Brannigan felt like he had a better grasp of why K reacted the way he did. And maybe it wouldn’t be smooth sailing. Maybe there would be problems because of this. Brannigan didn’t give a fuck. He still wanted to meet the man who had helped and protected him for six years.

  And maybe, if he could get on good terms with the men who were helping him now, he’d be able to reel K in. “Thank you. All of you, for helping.”

  “You’re welcome,” Smiley (Brannigan was reasonably sure that was Smiley) responded. There was a huff, then he spoke again. “The last of your employees are clear. Just in time, too. Malvagio, you got clear line of sight up there?”

  “I do. It’s kind of like lining up at one of those county fair booths—I’m just waiting for the ducks to float by.”

  “How many on site?” K demanded. “I’ve got limited camera views.”

  “I see eight,” Eidolon confirmed cheerfully. “Malvagio, leave some for us to play with.”

  “Get your own toys,” Malvagio fired back.

  Smiley tsked them. “Now, boys, share.”

  This was nothing to them. Brannigan knew bravado when he heard it, and this wasn’t it. They weren’t even worried. Who wasn’t worried about tackling the Irish Mob? It wasn’t like those guys were pushovers. Actually, now that he knew their code names, could Brannigan look them up? Without K somehow picking up on it?

  Yeah, that was a stupid question. Never mind. Maybe K would tell him.

  “Uhhhh…are we supposed to be shooting to kill?”

  Brannigan’s hands jerked on the wheel. What did Smiley just ask?!

  “Assassinations are romantic gestures,” Ivan assured him blithely. “It’s fine.”

  “Eidolon! We do not want to make enemies of the Irish Mob!” K snapped.

  There was a beat of silence.

  “How many did you kill?” K sounded resigned down to the depths of his soul.

  Malvagio answered, sounding semi-apologetic. “We’ve got one still standing?”

  “He’s bleeding out, I don’t think he’s going to last long,” Smiley observed in a critical fashion.

  K whined, “Guuuuys. Seriously?”

  “You know how competitive Eidolon and I get,” Malvagio defended himself.

  In almost the same breath, Smiley riposted, “I wasn’t doing critical shots, don’t blame me.”

  “Oh, is that what you were doing?” Eidolon asked, the light appearing to dawn. “I thought you were missing.”

  “Excuse you,” Smiley retorted coldly. “Who’s missing?”

  Brannigan was a little horrified on one level because they really had wiped out several members of the Irish Mob, and that would come back on him later. Perhaps he should be concerned about them killing so casually, too, but in this case it didn’t bother him. Rea
lly, aside from being worried about the backlash of this, he was mostly amused by the banter.

  Eidolon tried and failed to sound remorseful. “This is what happens when you’re bi. You can’t do anything straight.”

  “Sorry, Bran.” Brannigan could tell K was done. Just utterly done. “I think they just upped the stakes on you.”

  “I’d rather it be O’Conners dying than my people,” Brannigan answered. He meant every word of it. “But yeah, maybe get out now before the police arrive.”

  “We’re already moving,” Smiley assured him.

  Then they’d be out before law enforcement arrived. If Brannigan was questioned, he could honestly say he’d left before the shooting started and didn’t witness anything. He needed that plausible deniability at this point.

  Brannigan wondered how long the earbud would work. It was electronic, so surely it would need to be charged at some point. But he didn’t ask, just left it in and listened as the men talked, coordinating with each other as they left the area and planned out what to do next.

  It was obvious they’d been working with each other a long time. That they knew each other well. It made Brannigan strangely happy, that K really did have a family of his own, that he hadn’t been alone, as Brannigan had assumed him to be. He just hoped K’s family hadn’t botched things tonight. K was upset with them, and he might be upset enough that he would use tonight as a reason to not come near Brannigan ever again.

  God, he really hoped the hacker wouldn’t reach that conclusion. But he really feared he might.

  He went straight home, as a favor to K. Once there, he beelined for his home bar because frankly, he needed something stiff and alcoholic in his hand after today’s events. Fortified, he went next for his home office and sat down to come up with a contingency plan for when the Mob decided to extract revenge. Not that they would likely be able to put together who had just taken out their men, but it was Brannigan’s work site. He’d get the lion’s share of the blame.

  There was no warning whatsoever between one moment and the next. He sensed someone at his elbow and looked up, then startled badly enough that he nearly sloshed his drink over the laptop. “Eidolon!”

  “Sorry, I startled you again.” Eidolon didn’t seem sorry about that. There was mischief in the man’s grey eyes. “I get many complaints about not making noise when I walk.”

  Brannigan put a hand over his chest, making sure that his heart was still in it. “I can see that, actually. Oh, right, you’re here for the earbud.” He fished it out of his ear and handed it over.

  “Da, and that.” Eidolon planted one hip on the side of the desk, regarding him with a very penetrating stare. “Malvagio told us of your conversation with him. I wonder why are you so keen on meeting a man you’ve never seen even picture of.”

  Why did this feel strangely like speaking to a father about dating their child? “I’ll be honest. K is one of the most interesting men I know. I vastly prefer his company, even virtual, and it’s been very frustrating to me that he doesn’t seem to feel the same. Or doesn’t feel it strongly enough to let me see him.”

  Eidolon’s head cocked further, expression becoming enigmatic. “Will meeting him once satisfy you?”

  “No.” The answer was instinctual and blunt. “No, I don’t think it will. Everything I know of this man, every conversation I’ve had with him over the past six years, tells me he’s not only incredible, but fun. I really want to try dating.”

  “And his being hacker is non-issue?”

  “For me it is. I don’t think anyone around me—anyone that I actually care about—will have much of an issue with it either. K hasn’t said anything to me, but I can guess this is one of his concerns.”

  Eidolon paused, weighing him with his eyes, before speaking again. “My husband is not like us. He is good man, too. When I first met him, I worried just as K does now that my background would be too much for him to swallow. It took talks and time before I overcame that worry.”

  That sounded like Eidolon was on Bran’s side. “All I’m asking for is the chance. The chance to talk and to have that time.”

  “Da, is reasonable, what you ask. Alright, I go and push him. He needs good push. Maybe swift kick to ass, too.”

  “Please.” Bran heaved out a sigh of relief. Alright, another of K’s family on board. Maybe they’d actually get somewhere before the next century.

  Eidolon straightened and headed for the door. Obviously for show, as he hadn’t used it to get into the room. At the doorway, he paused and looked back for a moment. “Hey, want to see a magic trick?”

  “Sure?” Not certain where he was going with this, Bran stood from the desk and walked into the other room.

  The empty other room. There wasn’t a Russian thief anywhere in sight.

  “Okay, seriously. How the hell did he do that?”

  6

  Kyou

  Kyou was ready to just call this year quits. He was to the point of building a blanket fort, stocking some snacks and a Switch, and he’d just game and snack until this year was over. Being a responsible adult was too much.

  First, Brannigan had been alone while in Roxbury, which he knew better than to do. That alone gave Kyou nightmares. Then Ivan, Ari, and Carter had somehow figured out who he was and followed him for god knew how long. Then, to top it all off, they had a shootout with the Irish Mob.

  Yeah. Blanket fort. Blanket fort was the only sane answer.

  Brannigan had at least gone straight home and honored Kyou’s wishes. He appreciated that beyond words. Ivan, as a sort of backhanded apology, had wire tapped the O’Conners’ headquarters, so Kyou had something to listen to. He needed any edge right now. The hassling from the Mob had abruptly escalated, and Kyou didn’t know how hard they’d jump from this. From what he heard, the Mob was very unhappy to lose thirteen people all in ten minutes. They were determined to figure out who was behind the attack and retaliate.

  Kyou wished them luck. Bad luck, that was. He absolutely did not want them figuring anything out.

  It had been a long night of him sitting here perched at the desk, setting up alarms and putting additional alerts into place. Just in case. It was now five a.m. and he’d been up for twenty-three hours and change. Even caffeine couldn’t keep him up and actually functional for much longer. With a sigh, he went and grabbed a shower, one scorching hot to beat the tension out of his shoulders and neck. He had a low-grade headache that he absolutely didn’t want to take to bed with him.

  God, what a shitshow the past three days had been. Kyou honestly had no idea how it had happened. Sure, he’d gotten comfortable enough with the guys that he’d started complaining about Brannigan—and actually using the man’s first name. And yeah, Remi had thrown him under the bus a little by showing everyone his picture. But that had all been within tolerable limits. Kyou didn’t actually care if they knew that much as long as they let Brannigan be.

  Clearly, they couldn’t let him be.

  Kyou had underestimated both their curiosity and how nosy they were. He did not want this much interference. And yes, they’d been helpful (somewhat) last night by protecting Brannigan and his employees, but Kyou would have gotten other help there in time. Probably.

  This honestly unnerved Kyou and he wasn’t able to put his finger on why. He just didn’t like that his two worlds were colliding. He’d kept them separate for a long time, and he liked it that way, dammit.

  He stood in the shower, letting the water sluice over him, and tried to get his brain to unwind. Kyou was so incredibly tired. He felt like he shouldn’t sleep for long—things would inevitably happen today, but he couldn’t keep going like this. His brain was steadily crashing. It had taken three Monsters and far too much coffee just to get him through the night. And if Aiden found out he was drinking energy drinks again, the doctor would have his head on a platter.

  When the headache was mostly gone, he finally stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist. He blow-dried his hair, as Kyou hat
ed sleeping on wet hair with a passion. He looked around the bathroom and made an absent note to himself to clean it at some point. The white on white was nice when clean, but right now it showed every speck of hair and dirt, and it was starting to get a little gross looking. That had been the nice part about Aiden and Ivan temporarily staying with him for a month while they found a place up here. Aiden had kept the place clean. He didn’t really want the newlyweds back in his space, mind you, but he liked having his apartment clean.

  The phone rang against the marble counter, and Kyou glared at it for a full two seconds before shutting off the dryer and answering it.

  “Yes, Carter?”

  “Hey. I’m surprised you’re still awake.”

  “I’m going to bed shortly.”

  “Yeah? That’s good.” It was a little insulting how relieved Carter sounded. “I wanted to touch base with you a bit. So, your boy’s still home, snug and safe. Ivan said he’d crash for a few hours and then go back to shadowing him, just in case. Ari and I have a bit of a situation to take care of here.”

  “Does this situation involve bodies?”

  “Fortunately not. Think we have enough of those at the moment. No, we got home to discover that the upstairs tub was leaking through the kitchen ceiling. That’s kind of a priority.”

  “No kidding.” It was sliding into late fall now. They were having a charitable bout of good weather, but no one in the New England area ever banked on a mild winter. Home repairs would go over better in this weather. “It’s fine, I doubt anything will happen this morning. They need time to figure out how to retaliate. Go take care of it. I’ve got Brannigan’s life so rigged with alarms, if someone even says ‘Mob’ around him, I’ll be alerted.”

  “Okay. I’m honestly not sure how long this will take to sort out. Hopefully just this morning to repair the leak. That’s our main priority.”

  “Sure. Go, go. I’ll let you know if something happens.” Kyou hung up and deemed his hair dry enough. With a yawn, he slipped on boxers and threw himself onto the queen-sized bed, snuggling in. “I love you, my bed. I’m sorry we don’t see enough of each other.”